iPhone 16 Pro "Issue" with shooting photos in 16:9

[oRBIT2002]

I've learned that iPhone always shoots photos in 4:3 format, even if you've selected 16:9, perhaps most people know that. However, I'm slightly curious how this 16:9 image is created. I talked to the support of the app "Photosync", which I use to sync photos from my device to my PC, that iOS is actually creating 2 files when shooting a 16:9 image. One 4:3 and one 16:9. The "problem" I have is that we suspect that the 16:9 is created from the 4:3 image, which means the image is actually compressed twice (one for the 4:3 and another time when the 16:9 image is created).
Does anyone know how this actually works behind the scenes? I doubt it read the sensor twice, for both 4:3 and 16:9..?

 

[kitKAC]

Isn't it just a crop of the 4:3 frame?

 

[oRBIT2002]

Yes it seems that way, but it's a crop from a 4:3 jpeg and saved once again as a 16:9 jpeg.

 

[kitKAC]

It'll be a crop from the raw sensor data, then saved out to the format you've chosen. You can shoot ProRAW in 16:9.

 

[oRBIT2002]

No, I believe RAW is always 4:3 aswell (correct me if I am wrong). Photosync always copies two files to my pc when shot in 16:9 raw, one 4:3 and one cropped 16:9 but not in DNG.

 

[MS20]

I’ve noticed an issue with the iPhone 16 Pro when shooting in 16:9. The photos can look cropped and lose some detail, especially in wide shots. It’s not a major problem, but I’ve switched back to 4:3 for better flexibility.